Identity Fraud
by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: The headline of the day read as follows: "Roy Mustang arrested for Identify Fraud."
1. Chapter 1

It was the headline of the day's newspaper. And in big, bolded print it read:

 _ **Roy Mustang arrested for Identify Fraud**_

"What the hell?" Ed murmured to himself, scanning the title over again. He must've read it fifty times before he was inside his and Al's apartment, and twenty more before Al asked him what about the paper interested him so much. Still trying to puzzle together the meaning of the words himself, Ed flicked the paper toward Al.

The armored spirit's gaze scanned it once, and unlike his brother, he got it almost immediately. "The Colonel was arrested?"

Ed sat down at the table with a _plop!_ , settling himself and pouring a cup of coffee. Irritated, he muttered "And he's apparently not even the Colonel. Al, what does the rest of it say?"

Alphonse read out loud:

"Colonel Roy Mustang has been arrested for Identity Fraud. It has been discovered that the former Flame Alchemist has fabricated his history, name, age, and place of origin. Authorities suspect he is a foreign spy, sent to dismantle the military from the inside-out. Precautions are being made, and inspections are under way. Further updates will be made in the future."

Ed stirred sugar into his coffee absent-mindedly, tapping his temple with his left hand. "Fabricated his history, name, age and place of origin…'"he quoted the article. Annoyed, he grinded his teeth. "So the bastard was lying to us about _everything_ , huh!?" he stood up so abruptly the table shook. "NOT ANY-DAMN-MORE!" The blond stormed over to the door, grabbing his coat and completely disregarded the idea of drinking any of his breakfast brew. "Come on Al, we're gonna go kick his ass!"

Al nodded, knowing full well what Ed meant was find out what was really going on. He tossed the newspaper onto the table and followed his older brother out the door, closing it softly with a _click_ behind him.

He didn't know Edward wouldn't be returning for quite some time.

* * *

"He's being detained." The guard's expression was flat.

"You've told me this _twelve times!"_ Edward slammed his palms against the table top to emphasize his irritation "I _said_ , WHERE IS HE!?"

"Being detained." Again with that answer. "FullMetal, sir, I'm afraid I'll have to remove you from the premise by force if you don't cooperate."

" _WELL I'M NOT GOING TO COOPERATE!"_

The guard sighed, twitching slightly. The man was quite a bit taller than Edward (as was everyone else) and had a tad bit more muscle mass than the fourteen-year-old did. Chances are, if he really meant it, he really could 'throw' Ed out. The only reason he hadn't already was because Ed outranked him, being a State Alchemist and all. Alphonse probably would've been able to convince him, but he was stopped at the door for being a 'suspicious person', so instead of risking a check-over, the brothers decided to temporarily split up until after Edward talked with Mustang. The guard opened his mouth to give Ed some more information he didn't want to hear when the building abruptly shook.

A loud _BOOOM_ was hear, and debris broke and dusted the room, cluttering Edward's shoulders and getting tangled up into his hair.

"What was that?" Ed coughed, blinking the dust out of his eyes.

The man had whirled around and drew his gun, running towards the source of the explosion to investigate. Edward didn't take long to follow. As he followed the guard through the corridors, he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around.

"Edward, what the hell are you doing here-?" Roy growled, shaking him slightly. There were bags under his eyes and a slight scruff on his chin. His clothes seemed to not be prisoner's clothes, rather a casual outfit Ed had seen him in once or twice before (minus the coat and shoes). His hair was still a slightly messy tangle with the same bangs, and really he just looked pretty normal.

Besides one thing.

His eyes.

They were shining bronze.

"I came after you, you dumbass!" Ed hissed, backing away from him. "What the hell was that explosion!?"

"That would be me." Riza said from behind the colonel. Her eyes were a magenta color now.

"More specifically, me." Chirped someone else. A tall woman with green hair, pointed ears, and fairy wings waved.

"Who and what the hell is that?" Ed snapped, pointing toward her.

"Oh how rude." She pouted. "I have a name, you know."

"This is _not_ the time!" Roy snapped. His glare came back to Ed. "Get out of here FullMetal-"

"Too late for that." Riza said. She whipped up her gun and pointed at a group of men running down toward them, their weapons drawn as well. She fire a few warning shots and turned to look at Mustang, discarding the now empty cartridge. "They've seen him, we'll just have to take him with us."

"Take me with you!?" Ed snapped "What the hell are you talking about-"

"I guess you're right." Roy grumbled, he holstered Ed up like a suitcase, ignoring his very loud questions and threats "Muzét, get us out of here!"

"Do what he says." Hawkeye said, shooting down the hall more. "To the Shrine."

"As you command." Muzét chirped, waving her tendrils of hair like she was brandishing a knife, cutting open hole through thin air. Ed gasped, his eyes widening at the purple-ish void that had been made through nothing.

"Wh-what is THAT!?" he demanded.

"I'll explain later, Edward!" Roy snapped. "Milla, we need to go!"

The lieutenant nodded "Understood." She shot their pursuers a few more times, adding to their hesitation as they advanced toward the rift. Roy murmured some choice words under his breath and turned to Muzét again.

"Make sure he gets through okay, understood?" he hissed.

"You mean Edward? Of course." She giggled "Milla would be mad at me if I didn't."

"Muzét!" Riza snapped.

"Right. Come on now." The strange fairy-creature picked Ed up, accompanied by several loud and rude protests, and threw him into the rift.

Ed went in screaming headfirst, not knowing where this thing would take him and not knowing what was going on. The next thing he was aware of, his face was flat on some wooden floor. He shook his head and pushed himself up with his arms, turning his head so he could look behind him at the rift. The strange pixie woman flew out and dumped Roy onto the ground, and Riza jumped out quickly after, landing gracefully on her feet.

"Muzét." She said.

The green-haired woman slapped the air closed with an out-of-place giggle. "Well, now what?"

Roy got up and dusted himself off, his eyes went over to Ed. "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" Ed snapped "Now what the hell just happened!?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Edward, calm down-" Roy said with the tone of a parent trying to explain something to a frustrated child.

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I!?" Ed snapped in return. He looked around, trying to pinpoint his location. Upon realizing he didn't recognize the place, he turned to Riza for an explanation. The pixie-woman, Muzét, giggled and nudged Roy with her elbow.

"Oh how cute, he hates you." She laughed. Roy snorted in annoyance and waved the strange woman away.

Riza sighed. She put her hand on her hip and leaned more heavily on that leg, a posture Ed had never seen the Lieutenant have before. He blinked in confusion. "This is my temple, Edward." She said.

"Your…" Ed repeated, confusion painting his voice "…temple?" He muttered the phrase to himself several times, trying to process it. Upon failing to do this, he snapped "Why the hell do you have a _temple!?"_

"Edward, calm down." She said.

"Fine." Ed muttered.

"Hey! Why do you listen to her when she says that?" Roy growled.

"Because he _hates you."_ Muzét grinned, saying the last two words slowly "And likes Milla. Seems to me the boy has good taste." She winked at Ed as she said this.

Edward, currently unhappy with his situation, turned to Riza and pointed at the pixie woman. "What the hell is she and why does she keep calling you 'Milla'?"

"Because that's my name." Riza sighed. "Edward, it's a long, long story, and it'll have to wait."

Ed growled "Why the hell is that?"

Riza frowned slightly "I'll explain later." She turned to Roy "Sir, I need to go for a little bit."

Roy blinked, and then frowned in return. He nodded slightly, understanding something unspoken between them. Riza motioned for Muzét to follow her, to which the strange woman obliged to. The duo walked right past Edward and Roy and out the temple's door.

"Edward, listen to the Colonel. He knows this place better than you do." The lieutenant said over her should as she left.

"Wait-!" Ed grinded his teeth "Is NO ONE going to fucking explain what's going on!?"

"I will if you'd listen." The man scoffed. Ed growled, trying to calm the anger that rose from the thought of having to listen to Roy Mustang. He decided to both ask a question and exclaim his anger with a simple question.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU ARRESTED FOR IDENTITY FRAUD!?"

Roy nodded slightly, his now-bronze eyes showing a glint of amusement. "Because Roy Mustang is not my real name." he sighed "This is a long, _long,_ story Edward. So it'd probably be best if we went somewhere we could be comfortable."

Ed snarled at him and opened his mouth to retort.

"Edward, there's a small village at the foot of this hill." He explained calmly, stopping the explosion of the boy's temper before it happened "I have a… friend, there who could offer us a place to stay." When Ed went to interrupt, 'Roy' continued "And possibly dinner."

"…Fine." Edward mumbled. The two of them started off down the steps of the temple. Edward's yellow eyes glanced up at the man he thought he had knew for the past few years. Without a trace of any of the betrayal he held in his heart, he said "So what's your real name?"

Roy kept his gaze on the path in front of them "Jude Mathis."

"Where are we now then, _Jude?"_ the teen put as much spite into the name as possible.

The Mathis-Mustang sighed "Edward, how much do you know about geography?"

Ed snorted "I fail to see how that's important."

Roy gave him a look that was a mix between annoyance and amusement. "Well, we're in Rieze Maxia."

"Rieze Maxia…" Edward repeated the name. His brow furrowed, obviously trying to recall something. Roy smirked and returned his gaze to the path they were walking on. As Edward thought, Roy put a hand on his shoulder gently to stop him from tumbling over a short ledge. Ed shook his hand off, casted Roy a look of pure annoyance, and clambered down. Roy, with a practiced ease, hopped down onto the ground beside him. "Isn't Rieze Maxia like, really far from Amestris?" Ed said.

Roy nodded. "Practically on the other side of the globe."

Ed's eyes widenend. "H-How the hell did we get here so quickly then?"

"Muzét, that woman with the wings, she opened up what is called a 'Dimensional Rift', which pretty much allowed us to…well, 'warp', here." The man explained. "That's the brief version."

Ed's brow furrow "She 'warped' us here?"

Roy nodded. "Yep."

"Wait, are you _from_ here?" Ed blinked. Roy nodded again.

"Well, more specifically a port-side town call Leronde." He sighed.

"How did you get to Amestris?" the teen asked, forgetting his rage and temporarily exchanging it with the need to satisfy his curiosity.

Roy laughed softly "The long way."

"Holy crap." Ed frowned. "Wait, if the lieutenant's actual name is 'Milla', did she name herself 'Riza' after this country?"

Roy sighed "Yeah, Milla's not the most creative when it comes to names."

"How long have you known her?"

Roy blinked, a pale blush creeping on his face "W-well… I wasn't much older than you when I first met her." He glanced to the side, a dreamy smile on his face and suddenly he was lost in his memories.

Ed frowned, thinking. It was very interesting to him how they had got there, but it was frustrating to know not only Mustang, but also Hawkeye have been lying to him and his brother about who they were. Riza has her own temple, which was one of the more interesting things. Perhaps she was some sort of priestess? How did Mustang come to living in Amestris, and under a fake name anyway? WHY did he use a fake name? And the look that Roy had now….

Ed snorted. He knew Roy and Riza had a stronger relationship than they let on, but maybe now that their covers were blown, Roy feels more comfortable blushing and daydreaming over her. Ed coughed into his fist, trying to draw Mustang back to reality. After the first attempt he coughed louder.

Mustang bolted straight up for a moment, startled from his daydream. He shook his head briefly. "Well, anyway, we should be there soon." He looked toward his young companion "I'm going to assume you want to know about the town?"

"No, I'm fine with blindly wandering around." Ed said.

Roy blinked. With a sigh he added "Ed, I sincerely can't tell whether or not you're joking."

"Tell me about the damn town!" Ed snapped.

"Woah, alright." Roy frowned. He turned away from Ed, a flash of hurt in his eyes. Maybe it was just Ed, but Roy seemed to show more emotion when his eyes had a brighter color. Perhaps the darkness that was in his eyes before somehow masked his emotion? Or maybe he was just more comfortable in this environment? Then again, Edward hasn't really been around the man too much outside of the office. Maybe Roy just showed more emotion when he wasn't around his men?

"…Edward, are you paying attention?" the man asked. Ed jumped a bit, startled.

"No, not really. Start over." He said.

Roy sighed "The town we're going to be at is called Nia Khera, it's the Lieutenant's hometown. It's a pretty small village, where everyone knows everyone. Kind of like Resembool."

"Well it was the last time you were there." Ed snorted.

Roy blinked "What do you mean?"

Ed put a hand on his hip and waved his over hand out in front of him as if he was explaining to a student "I know you've been in Amestris for at least three years. But if you consider your rank in the military, then you'd have to be there for at least five, that being a stretch. And from what I know of Rieze Maxia, they just started opening up trade about a decade ago, which mean that it's developing and changing due to the push to contact others."

Mustang raised an eyebrow "So, in short, you're saying it might've industrialized?"

"Yep." Ed nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Roy put a finger to his forehead, crossing the over one across his chest "I guess you could be right. Well, last I remember it, it was a small town that was very faithful to its religion." He crossed his arms "So Edward, I want you to be respectful."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ed snorted, waving him off. "I won't bite their heads off if they don't bite mine off."

"I'd hope so." Roy sighed. His brow furrowed "Also, about my friend in that village…" his voice trailed off, lingering in silence.

Ed blinked, waiting a moment for Roy to continue. "…About your friend…?"

Roy sighed "Well, I don't quite know if he considers me his friend, although he will help me. Or, you, rather."

The teen blinked "Why?"

Mustang shrugged "Riza, or as he knows her, Milla, likes you."

Ed snorted. "How would he know that?"

Roy sighed "Hell if I know, but if anyone would randomly know, it's him."

"So what's the guy's name?" Ed said, choosing to ignore the comment.

"It's-" Roy cut himself off, listening intently. A look of pure annoyance spread on his face. "Actually, he'll tell you in a moment." He muttered "Probably."

Ed blinked in confusion "What-"

And from the distance, Ed heard it.

" _Phooooooooo…."_

Very distant, but rapidly approaching and becoming louder and louder.

" _oooooooOOONNNNN…."_

Kind of… annoying, too. Edward noted Roy spreading his feet apart slightly, tensing up a little. Vaguely, the blond wondered if he should prepare for a fight.

" _NNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY_ YYYYYYYYYYYY!" A man with long white hair back flipped off of one of the looming cliffs, drawing a pair of daggers and making for Roy's face.

Mustang gently pushed Ed out of the way as the white-haired man flung down. Almost as if this was common, Roy grabbed the man by the wrist and flipped him over, pinning him to the ground.

"Nice to see you again." Roy smirked, loosening his grip.

The white-haired man snorted. "How DARE you show your face around here, you Phony!?"

"Easily, actually." Roy sighed "If I let you up, will you attack me again?"

"…No." the man pouted. Mustang nodded and let him go. The white-haired man got up and dusted himself off, glaring at Roy. Then his eyes caught on Ed's rather confused (and amused) expression. He pointed to the child and looked at Mustang.

"Who's this?" he blinked.

"That's Edward." Roy nodded. The man's eyes widened.

"Wait- like, Eddie?" he gasped. Mustang flinched.

"N-No. Just Edward. Ed." The man said. Roy motioned to the white-haired man, quickly changing the subject. "Ed, this is Ivar."

"Woah-Wait! You can't just sneak that by me!" Ed snapped "Who the hell is 'Eddie'!?"

Roy flinched again and inhaled deeply. He opened his mouth to speak before Ivar interrupted.

"I don't believe that's any of your business, Pipsqueak!" Ivar shouted, crossing his arms and spreading his legs. A nerve bulged on Ed's forehead.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST SAAAY!?" Ed roared.

Ivar blinked " 'Pipsqueak'?"

Ed howled in anger, jumping up and kicking the white-haired man in the face. Repeatedly. After the first two, Ivar started to block them with a fair amount of ease. He turned to Roy, still blocking the angry pipsqueak's kicks, in desperation. Roy shrugged.

"You just need to let him yell it out."

After several minutes, Edward was out of breath, Ivar's hands were bruised, and the three males were heading down the last stretch to the town. Ivar and Roy exchanged looks over Ed's head. Mustang gave Ivar a thankful smile to which he pointed and yelled 'Phony' in an over-dramatic fashion. Roy rolled his eyes and set Ivar's hair on fire with a light 'click' of his fingers.

Another few moments later, Ed was pointing and laughing at an Ivar running around in circles while Roy smirked smugly.

* * *

 **Hi everyone, I'm the author of this fanfic (obviously) and I want to thank you for reading this far! I'd appreciate it if you'd read more as I update and hopefully enjoy it. You don't have to worry about reading A/Ns much at the end of chapters because I really haven't been saying much lately. This is just to cover a few things.**

 **I don't respond to reviews much. But that is not to say I don't enjoy them. Please write me one to tell me how you feel about this fanfic! It helps me get motivated!**

 **Now, I have one other Tales of Xillia fanfic at the time (Four Years After) and I enjoy writing small bonus 'skits' at the ends of the chapter. I was debating for a while whether or not to do that for this fic, and I decided I will! So at the end of each chapter, you'll get a few side-conversations in a skitty-format.**

 **So besides from the skits, you won't (usually) hear much from me. I hope you continue to read (and hopefully enjoy) 'Identity Fraud!'**

" **Frenemies"**

[Roy and Ivar's boxes push against eachother, both with agitated expressions]

Ed: [annoyed] "So do you two hate eachother for a reason?"

Roy: [?] "I don't hate him."

Ivar: "I don't hate him either. It's just kind of habit to act like this now."

Ed: "Why?"

Ivar: [slides over to Roy] "Nosey kid, huh?"

Roy: [sigh] "Back when Ivar and I were younger, Ivar was just jealous because I got all of Riza's attention."

Ed: [smug smirk] "Ohhh."

Ivar: [?] "Who's Riza…?"

" ' **Eddie' 1"**

Ivar: "Jude…"

Roy: "Hm?"

Ivar: "uh… Well… Sorry."

Roy: [?] "About what?"

Ivar: [Side look] "…Eddie."

Roy: [cringe] [box sinks] "Thanks."

" **Ivar the Incredible"**

Ed: "So, Ivar, Mustang said you'd introduce yourself…?"

Ivar: [annoyed] "Who's Mustang?"

Ed: [snort] "Oh. Right. 'Jude'."

[Roy slides onscreen]

Ivar: [unaware of Roy] [snort] "Hell if I know."

Roy: "Because he used to come up with these long-winded speeches to introduce himself."

Ed and Ivar: [!]

Ed: [snickering] "Really?"

Ivar: [embarrassed] "N-no! Stop making things up you Phony!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, where do I start?" Roy murmured, rubbing his temples. The three of them sat on the floor surrounding Ivar's fireplace. The basic layout of the house hadn't seemed to change all that much, although Roy noted an extra door that led to a bathroom and some more modern appliances lying about. Nia Khera hadn't changed all that much either. Roy thought that the town's limits were extended a bit and there were a few newer, bigger, buildings, but it seemed like the town kept its rural air.

The group had gone straight to Ivar's house, and Ed had demanded the explanation Roy promised, over lunch of course.

"Well start with why you changed your name." Ivar suggested. " 'Jude Mathis' to 'Roy Mustang'."

"I remember my own name, Ivar." Roy muttered, rolling his eyes. "You don't need to remind me." He frowned "But yeah, the alias is part of a bigger story too…"

Ed glared daggers into the Mathis-Mustang, who promptly ignored him. Suddenly the man straightened up. "Oh I got it. So" he looked to the white-haired man "Do you remember how I was a researcher?"

Ivar snorted and rolled his eyes "And a doctor, and an ambassador, and the flippin' messiah-"

"No that was Milla." Roy interrupted, voicing the answer he knew would shut him up. Ivar nodded.

"Holy sh-" Ed started to state his wonder before Roy cut him off.

"No swearing." He said. Ed looked annoyed.

"What?" the teen muttered.

"Well now that I have nothing to hide I can finally tell you to stop swearing all the time." Roy rolled his eyes "Seriously, a kid like you has no business even knowing language like that."

Ed opened his mouth to respond with a rather colorful retort when Ivar covered his mouth and shook his head.

"Don't." he whispered, his eyes darting to Roy "He's always been like that, so don't take it personally."

Ed mumbled under his breath and pushed Ivar away. Roy tilted his head.

"You two done?" he asked. The said 'two' nodded and Roy carried on. "Well I was a researcher, trying to find a new way to use energy…" he trailed off, his face clearly betraying his curiosity about something, but he chided himself quietly and went on "I made my fair share of enemies. While what was at the time used as energy was harmful and plain-out murde-" his eyes darted to Ed and he cut himself off "…it was still making people money. Those people didn't quite like my cleaner way of productivity." He paused for a breath "So they, er, went after me…" he stumbled over the sentence, as if he was making the story up on the spot. "I ran for awhile and ended up in Amestris through a series of events you really don't need to know, and Riza" he looked to Ivar and elaborated "Milla, just showed up. The reason for my alias is pretty simple: I was hiding from _them."_

Ed frowned "But why join the military?"

Roy-Jude shrugged "Well that country was kinda horrible so I'd figured I'd do something to change it."

Ivar rolled his eyes "Sounds like you."

Rude raised a brow "Pardon?"

"Nothing!" Ivar chirped.

Ed frowned, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. "All right… so why 'Roy Mustang'?"

"Yeah Jude, why call yourself King Horse?" Ivar asked. Ed choked down a laugh. Tears pricked at his eyes as he turned to Ivar with a grin.

"King Horse?" he asked.

Ivar grinned widely, clearly enjoying the attention. "Yep! King Horse! 'Roy' means 'king' and Mustang is a type of horse, so-"

"Ivar, shut up before I make you shut up." Roy growled. His was red with both embarrassment and anger.

"You named yourself King Horse?" Ed laughed.

Roy's face turned a deeper red. He coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. "I panicked."

"How do you manage to panic THAT much?" Ivar said with a chuckle. Ed nodded his agreement with the question.

"I don't know. I mean, Gaius named himself 'He who pulls the world behind him'!" Roy snapped. He lowered his voice and muttered "How vain is that?"

"Not as vain as the King of Horses, apparently." Ed snickered. Roy gave him a golden glare and for once, Ed ducked away from it. Roy took a deep breath and sighed it out.

"Anyway. That's pretty much it." Roy said. "Yes?" he said when Ed (mockingly) raised his hand.

"Who's Gaius?"

"The King of Rieze Maxia." Ivar said with a nod. Ed's eyes widened.

"You know a king?" he asked.

Roy nodded "Yes."

"How?" Ed blinked.

Roy sighed in response, running a hand down his face "That's another very long story, Ed."

Ed stuck his bottom lip out in a pout "Alright fine. Then who's Eddie?" Roy and Ivar stared at him with wide eyes. Ed rolled his own "What? You thought I'd just forget it?"

Roy took a deep breathe, slouching down where he sat. His gazed flicked away "Edward, I don't want to talk about it." Ed opened his mouth to deliver a rather harsh retort but quickly closed it, thinking better of it. And honestly, feeling the slightest bit guilty.

"Alright." He said. Quickly he changed the subject, jabbing a thumb at Ivar "So who's this loser?"

"Hey!" Ivar snapped.

"Just some loser Riza-Milla knows." Roy shrugged.

"JUDE!" Ivar howled. His eyes narrowed and he jumped to his feet, pointing accusingly at Roy as he yelled "AT LEAST I'M NOT A PHONY!"

Ed scooted over to Roy and leaned in close "Why does he keep calling you 'Phony'?"

"Because he's ashamed I'm better than him." Roy whispered back. Ed rolled his eyes.

"I'd be ashamed if you were better than me, too." He muttered. Roy tilted his head to the side, smiling warmly at the comment with the slightest hint of confusion. His eyes shown, glowing in the reflecting light of the setting sun. Ed looked away.

At that moment, Jude was there. But Roy wasn't.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sorry for the looooonng update time. I kinda got writer's block for this chapter. So I just cut it short. Uh… So my sister and I headcannon Gaius is actually Jude's dad. I forgot that wasn't cannon and almost wrote it in.**

 **Skit~**

" ' **Eddie' 2"**

Ivar: … "Jude…."

Roy: "What is it?"

Ivar: [box sinks] "The kid was kinda prying there, huh? You okay?"

Roy: [smirk] "Of course I'm okay. I'm not you."

Ivar: [half-eyed look] "Yay for you."


End file.
